My elder daughter and I are standing at traffic lights, waiting to cross the road. I look down at her – small for a six-year-old – and a huge wave of joy and gratitude for her existence washes over me. She looks up, smiles and says, “I know.” “What do you know?” I ask. (Though really, I know what she’s … Read More
2 Picture Books to Introduce Mindfulness to Kids
Why introduce mindfulness to kids? If you already have a mindfulness practice – whether it is meditation, mindful inquiry, releasing or all three – at some point you may feel you’d like to introduce your children to your practices. With mindfulness, we learn acceptance of feelings and thoughts that are often judged, punished and suppressed in Western culture. This releases … Read More
Meditation is Easier Than You Think
While you are reading this, notice the sounds you hear around you. For me, there are birds twittering outside, a quiet hum from a fish tank filter, the soft sound of trees moving in a breeze. What do you hear? Pay attention to those sounds. You don’t need to name them – or to try to work out what they are. … Read More
Thankfulness is a breeze, and sometimes a hurricane
Sometimes thankfulness is barely noticeable, like the lightest of breezes on a hot summer’s day. It’s there, still making my heart beat, still flowing through the me-ness of me. But I don’t notice. I go about my day, taking life and gratitude for granted: picking up a small child, talking with that child – now grown – kissing my husband … Read More
Thankful For A Loss
In sharing this story, I do not wish in any way to negate or belittle the experience of anyone who has gone through miscarriage and is still grieving. My hope is that by sharing my story I can perhaps offer others hope or resolution. Motherhood came later in life for me than it does for many women. In my twenties, I had no … Read More
How Writing Aids Understanding
In my post for last weekend’s hop, I wrote briefly that I had found relief and release on a long-standing issue. If you have read either of my posts How I Got Drawn In or A Minister’s Son, then you will have some idea what that issue was. I expect these to be the first of five posts in this … Read More
What’s Your Writer’s Scaffolding?
I’ve been editing a story I wrote years ago. I liked the story, but editors didn’t. I tried to figure out what was wrong with it, cut stuff out and tried again. More rejections, so I gave up. A long time later, I opened up the various versions (some in formats so old that Word didn’t recognise them and I … Read More
Mind Over Medicine by Lissa Rankin MD – a Review
At first glance it might seem that a book called Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself has nothing to do with writing. However, there’s at least two reasons why I think that it is an important book for writers. Everything in one way or another has something to do with writing. What we learn about life … Read More
Find Your Own Writing Process
I’m a member of a few writing groups – all online though in the past I’ve been in some off-line ones too. One topic of conversation that crops up over and over is the writing process. I find the writing process fascinating, and I also find our obsession with it fascinating. In particular, I’ve been thinking lately about that elusive … Read More
10 Brilliant Self-Help Books
These ten books have guided me from feeling like a total failure who had no idea how to cope with life, to where I am today. Where exactly that is is hard to say, and varies day to day and moment to moment. Mostly it’s content with life and able to see the silver lining. Mostly it’s feeling love and compassion … Read More
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